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<title>Present Mirth (Hath Present Laughter) by StarsCrackedOpen (Misthia)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25642510">Present Mirth (Hath Present Laughter)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthia/pseuds/StarsCrackedOpen'>StarsCrackedOpen (Misthia)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Things Carried, Unseen [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Friendships, Fluff and Humor, Force Bond (Star Wars), Friendship, Gen, Laughter, Light-Hearted, Master &amp; Padawan Relationship(s), Pre-Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:47:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25642510</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthia/pseuds/StarsCrackedOpen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ahsoka was still on her way, and it occurred to Anakin that he <i>could</i> warn her. <br/>The alternative, however, promised to be <i>far</i> more entertaining.</p><p>Or: In which Ahsoka is startled, Anakin laughs, and Obi-Wan has both a mishap and a moment of vindication.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Things Carried, Unseen [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>253</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Present Mirth (Hath Present Laughter)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Tired of me yet? I hope not. I’m just going to keep writing them as they keep coming.<br/>As ever, I own nothing, and make nothing from it.</p><p>Obi-wan joins them this time. This is set probably around season 2ish. Also based on a true story...from a certain point of view.</p><p>I really had fun writing this, and I hope it’s fun to read. Tagged as usual, interpret as you wish. This would again be prelude to a years-later relationship. </p><p>Title is from <i>Twelfth Night</i>, by William Shakespeare.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em>”What is love? 'Tis not hereafter.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Present mirth hath present laughter.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>What’s to come is still unsure.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>In delay there lies no plenty.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Youth’s a stuff will not endure.”</em>
</p><p>William Shakespeare, <em>Twelfth Night, </em>Act II, Scene III</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Jedi masters’ living quarters were more spacious and well-appointed than a knight’s, and both were far more accommodating than a padawan’s, so if there was supplemental mission planning to be done with Obi-wan, he always offered his comfortable apartment.</p><p>And so this is how Anakin ended up at Obi-Wan’s door early one morning, knowing there would be tea but wishing he’d had another cup of caf before coming over. He rang the door chime.</p><p>As the door opened, Anakin’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Obi-Wan looked both slightly affronted...and significantly less hirsute. He’d shaved, for the first time in <em>years</em>.</p><p>“Is something <em>wrong</em>?” He scrutinized Anakin as he stepped back to let him in.</p><p>“No, I just...don’t think I’ve seen your whole face since I was a child. I wasn’t...expecting it.”</p><p>“Yes, well, neither was I. Clipper malfunction. After that, there wasn’t much choice.” Obi-Wan disappeared to the kitchen and reappeared a moment later with two steaming cups, handing one to Anakin and taking his usual chair in the small living room.</p><p>Ahsoka was still on her way, and it occurred to Anakin that he <em>could</em> warn her.</p><p>The alternative, however, promised to be <em>far</em> more entertaining. So he bit back a smile and sat down at the adjoining couch, drinking his tea.</p><p>A couple of minutes later, the door chimed. “Come in!” called Obi-Wan, looking up from the table strewn with plans.</p><p>Ahsoka entered, several datapads tucked under her arm and looking down intently at another in her hand. “Good morning, Master Ken-<em>WHOA!</em>” She jumped nearly a foot and almost lost her grip on the datapad, while two more slid out from under her arm, crashing to the floor.</p><p>It was too much. Anakin couldn’t hold back his laughter. He stopped trying to, the mirth shaking his body as he laughed and laughed. Ahsoka’s eyes were still wide, but she scrambled to apologize. “Master Kenobi, I’m sorry, I was just surprised—”</p><p>“It’s quite all right. <em>Change</em> is never easy, as I’m sure Anakin can attest to.” He shot a disapproving look at his former student, whose chest was still heaving silently. He looked back at Ahsoka with a genteel smile, the very picture of courtesy. “Would you like some tea?”</p><p>“Yes please,” she managed to get out. Obi-Wan walked to the kitchen, and she took the opportunity to scoop up the dropped pads and deposit them on the low table. As she straightened, she caught her master’s eye, which was twinkling.</p><p>“‘Morning, Snips.”</p><p>“<em>You could have warned me</em>,” she hissed at Anakin.</p><p>He chortled. “I could have. But I’m enjoying this.”</p><p>Obi-Wan returned with the tea, which Ahsoka accepted with gratitude and flushed lekku. She sat down opposite Anakin, and they got to work, Obi-Wan explaining the layout of the facility they were to infiltrate. After a few minutes, Anakin, still amused and feeling mischievous, raised an eyebrow and shot across to Ahsoka the impression of her own reaction. It <em>had</em> been comical. Her shoulders shook slightly, and her lips twitched, torn between entertained and embarrassed.</p><p>Watching Ahsoka try not to laugh was funny in and of itself. She tried valiantly to keep her expressive face blank, biting her lip, trying not to look at him. Anakin found himself fighting more laughter watching her, as her own, suppressed, bled through their link.</p><p>Ahsoka, for her part, had been doing just <em>fine</em> until she had seen her own reaction relayed to her. While she fought that laughter off, the mirth in her master’s eyes and through their bond as he fought to keep a straight face had her catching her lip in her sharp eyeteeth and trying to think of the saddest holo-novel she’d ever seen.</p><p>They sat there, alternately catching the other’s eye and avoiding it. Both were barely holding it back, faces twitching, bodies fidgeting, unvented amusement and absurdity building up in their bond in a feedback loop.</p><p>Obi-Wan’s eyes flicked between the two of them, very much aware of the wordless exchange between them. He stopped and sighed, exasperated. “All right, you two, get it out.”</p><p>That was all they needed, and they both broke into peals of laughter, now more at how hard they’d been trying <em>not</em> to laugh than anything else. Obi-Wan also looked slightly amused in spite of himself, Anakin thought, though he no longer had a beard to hide his smile in. That notion made him laugh harder, somehow, and he leaned forward on his knees, shaking his head as Ahsoka hiccuped and wiped her eyes.</p><p>Obi-Wan regarded them both with a half-smile of his own. “Feel better?”</p><p>“Much,” said Anakin, leaning back into the plush couch.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A couple of hours later they called it quits, Anakin sorting the plans and datapads while Ahsoka helped Obi-Wan carry cups back to the kitchen. Obi-Wan spoke, quietly.</p><p>“I was glad to see Anakin laugh like that. It’s...been a very long time.”</p><p>Ahsoka tilted her head but said nothing, listening. Obi-Wan continued,“I know he was...ambivalent about the idea of a padawan at first, but I daresay you’ve grown on him.”</p><p>She gave an easy shrug. “He’s grown on me too. He’s a good teacher, and I’m glad I was assigned to him.” She looked at Obi-Wan, who was rinsing the teapot.</p><p>“I think...along with Master Yoda, I think I have you to thank for it, Master Kenobi.”</p><p>His eyes slid over to her. She was more perceptive than she let on. Her smile though was genuine, and that radiated into the Force. He smiled wryly back as he dried his hands.</p><p>Anakin poked his head into the kitchen. “Ready, Snips?” She nodded, and Obi-Wan followed both of them to the door.</p><p>As they started down the hall, Obi-Wan saw Anakin lean in and murmur something to Ahsoka, who promptly started laughing again. He could see the flash of Anakin’s smile, and his own mouth quirked up. As much as Anakin Skywalker didn’t like to admit it, Obi-Wan Kenobi <em>was</em> sometimes right.</p><p>This was definitely one of those times.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <strong>Fin.</strong> </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is based, as I said, on a true story, when I rounded a corner in my apartment to find my S/O suddenly lacking all facial hair. I had never seen his bare face before, though we’d known each other for years, and for a split second didn’t recognize him. I reacted much as Ahsoka did. He also had a clipper malfunction when trimming — the guard slipped.</p><p>The rest is based on that wonderful moment with someone when you keep setting each other off in laughter.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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